Horn Rapids – Richland, WA – Review

I had the chance to the play Horn Rapids golf course as part of my recent tri-cities golf trip. Horn Rapids is located in Richland, WA and is part of a master planned golf course community. The course is billed as a desert layout which will challenge golfers of all skill level. The course stretches just under 7,000 yards from the back tees and can play as short as 5,000 from the front tees. I was looking forward to playing Horn Rapids as I really enjoy the desert golf that I get to play on my trips down to the Tucson area, however this course was quite different from the desert courses in the Arizona sun. After talking to several folks that have played this course it seems that you either love the layout for it challenge to your shot making skills or you are not a fan of it due to the course conditions and high winds.

I must admit that I fell into the latter category. For some reason I just wasn’t feeling this course. The wind was in full effect the day that I played, which is always seems to taint your opinion of a course. However, it wasn’t the wind that bugged me about the course, it was the condition of the course itself. The greens were in decent shape; however there seemed to be plenty of weeds and dandelions to go around. Also being a master planned community there were plenty of houses lining some of the holes on the course.

Despite the flaws mentioned above it isn’t often that you get to play a desert layout in Washington state and this course does offer a pretty good value with green fees only running about $40 on the weekends. The course opens with a very short and straight forward par 4 which given the right wind conditions is drivable. However, a nice long iron off the tee will leave a short wedge into this green. The par 5 third has a slightly uphill tee shot that played directly into the wind during our round. The green is tiered so make sure that you are on the right level. The par 4 fourth is a big dog leg right. Longer hitter can cut the corner on this hole and leave themselves with a very short approach. The only water of the day will come into play on the par 4 ninth. A good long iron or fairway metal should take the water out of play on this hole.

The back nine opens with an uphill par 4 that plays much longer than it looks. Be sure to take enough club on your approach shot to this green or you may be left scratching your head on how you came up short. The par 5 twelfth is a big dog leg left where taking the right line off the tee is of the utmost importance. The rest of the back nine plays pretty straight forward until you get the par 5 eighteenth. This is another hole where if you take the right line you can put yourself in good shape. We had a little wind at our backs and I took an aggressive line and ended up having a wedge for my second shot into this par 5.

As mentioned this was not one of my favorite courses but I can see how it may be a course that you have to play more than once to enjoy. The sand in the desert is very soft and if spend too much time in it you will find yourself washing sand out of your ears for the rest of the week. It is very hard to hit a solid shot out of the desert on this course so accuracy is a must for a low score at this course. If you are looking for a desert golf experience without going to the southwest than this may be the course for you.

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